“Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world.” Walt Disney
I have just learned about a terrific training resource: TED-Ed, subtitled Lessons Worth Sharing. According to its website:
“TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. TED-Ed’s mission is to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Everything we do supports learning — from producing a growing library of original animated videos , to providing an international platform for teachers to create their own interactive lessons, to helping curious students around the globe bring TED to their schools and gain presentation literacy skills, to celebrating innovative leadership within TED-Ed’s global network of over 250,000 teachers. TED-Ed has grown from an idea worth spreading into an award-winning education platform that serves millions of teachers and students around the world every week.”
If you’re good with animation, you can create a lesson on the site. If, like me, you’re better off using what others have created, there is a plethora from which to choose.
The categories include: The Arts, Business & Economics; Design, Engineering & Technology; Health; Literature & Language; Mathematics; Philosophy & Religion; Psychology; Science & Technology; Social Studies; Teaching & Education; and Thinking & Learning.
There are subcategories under each category. For example, under Thinking & Learning, you will find: Attention and Engagement; Memory; Critical Thinking; Problem Solving; Creativity; Collaboration; Information Literacy; and Organization and Time Management.
You can select the student level you want, including: Elementary/Primary; Middle School/Lower Secondary; High School/Upper Secondary; College/University; and Other.
You can also choose the duration of a video, ranging from under 3 minutes to over 18 minutes, as well as the language for the subtitles.
For fun, I chose the Psychology category and the Cognition and Learning subcategory to see the videos available. Some of the videos focused on “The Way We Think”: “Ideasthesia: How do ideas feel;” “Why we love repetition in music;” and “How art can help you analyze.”
Some of the videos focused on “Mind Matters”: “The benefits of a bilingual brain;” “How spontaneous brain activity keeps you alive;” and “The world needs all kinds of minds.”
Under the Motivation and Emotion subcategory, videos that focus on “The Way We Think” include: “How people rationalize fraud;” and “The surprising truth about what motivates us.”
Under the Social Psychology subcategory, videos that focus on “How Things Work” include: “What causes economic bubbles?” and “Networking for the networking averse.” Videos that focus on “The Way We Think” include: “Should you trust unanimous decisions;” “How do you know whom to trust;” and “Rethinking thinking.”
By the way, along with the animations you will also find TED Talks.
This is a wonderfully rich resource and I definitely plan to make use of it!
May your learning be sweet.
Deborah
